25 Types of Wasps and Hornets: ID Tips and Sting Risk

Only a handful of wasps cause real trouble in North American yards: yellowjackets, paper wasps, the bald-faced hornet and the European hornet. They are social wasps that live in colonies and defend their nests. Most other wasps you’ll see, like mud daubers, cicada killers and the great black wasp, are solitary hunters that rarely sting unless handled, and they help control garden pests. The famous Asian hornets are a separate case: the northern giant hornet has been eradicated from the US, and the yellow-legged hornet, found in Georgia since 2023, should be reported, not handled.

If you’re allergic to stings, or a nest is inside a wall, in the attic or next to a door, don’t try to remove it yourself: call a licensed pest professional. Any trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, widespread hives or dizziness after a sting is a medical emergency, so call 911.

• Wasp, Bee or Hornet?
• Social Wasps: The Ones That Sting
• Solitary Wasps: Scary-Looking but Mostly Harmless
• Invasive Hornets to Report
• Hornets Found Outside North America
• What to Do About a Wasp Nest

Wasp	Scientific name	Social or solitary	Sting risk
Yellowjackets	Vespula and Dolichovespula spp.	Social	High
Paper Wasps	Polistes spp.	Social	Moderate
Bald-Faced Hornet	Dolichovespula maculata	Social	High near the nest
European Hornet	Vespa crabro	Social	Moderate
Great Black Wasp	Sphex pensylvanicus	Solitary	Low
Eastern Cicada Killer	Sphecius speciosus	Solitary	Low
Mud Daubers	Sceliphron, Trypoxylon and Chalybion spp.	Solitary	Very low
Potter Wasps	Eumeninae	Solitary	Very low
Sand Wasps	Bembicini	Solitary	Low
Spider Wasps	Pompilidae	Solitary	Low (painful if handled)
Tarantula Hawk	Pepsis and Hemipepsis spp.	Solitary	Low, but among the most painful stings
Ichneumon Wasps	Ichneumonidae	Solitary (parasitoid)	Very low
American Pelecinid Wasp	Pelecinus polyturator	Solitary (parasitoid)	Very low
Giant Woodwasp (Horntail)	Urocerus gigas	Solitary (wood wasp)	None
Northern Giant Hornet	Vespa mandarinia	Social	Very high (eradicated from the US)
Yellow-Legged Hornet	Vespa velutina	Social	High near the nest
Black Shield Wasp	Vespa bicolor	Social	High near the nest
Black-Bellied Hornet	Vespa basalis	Social	Very high
Black-Tailed Hornet	Vespa ducalis	Social	Moderate
Greater Banded Hornet	Vespa tropica	Social	High near the nest
Japanese Yellow Hornet	Vespa simillima	Social	Moderate
Lesser Banded Hornet	Vespa affinis	Social	High
Oriental Hornet	Vespa orientalis	Social	Moderate
Philippine Hornet	Vespa luctuosa	Social	Very high (strong venom)
Southern Giant Hornet	Vespa soror	Social	Very high

Wasp, Bee or Hornet?

• Bees are usually fuzzy and thick-waisted and carry pollen on their legs or bellies. Honey bees die after stinging once. Most bees only sting to defend the nest.
• Wasps are usually smooth and shiny, with a narrow “wasp waist”. They hunt insects or scavenge, and they can sting more than once.
• Hornets are wasps too. Only species in the genus Vespa are true hornets. In North America, the one true hornet you are likely to meet is the European hornet. The “bald-faced hornet” is actually a yellowjacket.

Social Wasps: The Ones That Sting

These wasps live in colonies of dozens to thousands and will sting, often repeatedly, to defend their nest. Nearly all stings in yards come from them.

Yellowjackets (Vespula and Dolichovespula spp.)

Yellowjackets are the familiar black-and-yellow wasps that turn up at picnics, trash cans and fallen fruit, especially in late summer and fall when the colony is at its largest and hungry for sugar. They are about half an inch long, with short antennae and bright banding. Most North American species nest underground in old rodent burrows, but some build nests in wall voids or attics. Their nests can hold thousands of workers by August. Underground nests are easy to disturb by accident when mowing, and workers come out in large numbers to sting.

Paper Wasps (Polistes spp.)

Paper wasps build the open, umbrella-shaped paper combs you see under eaves, porch ceilings, deck railings and shutters. The hexagonal cells are visible from below. They are slender, reddish-brown or black-and-yellow, about 3/4 to 1 inch long, and their long legs dangle in flight. They hunt caterpillars and are useful in the garden. They are less aggressive than yellowjackets, but they will sting if you get too close to the nest. Small nests are easiest to deal with in early spring, when only the queen is present.

Bald-Faced Hornet (Dolichovespula maculata)

The bald-faced hornet is a large black-and-white aerial yellowjacket, not a true hornet. It is about 3/4 inch long, with a white face. It builds the large, gray, football-shaped paper nests with a single entrance near the bottom that hang in trees, shrubs and under eaves. It is very defensive near the nest and reacts to vibrations from mowers and hedge trimmers. The colony dies in fall, and the empty nest is never reused.

European Hornet (Vespa crabro)

The European hornet is the only true hornet established in North America. It arrived in New York in the 1800s and now lives across much of the eastern US. It is big, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches, with a reddish-brown head and thorax and a yellow-banded abdomen. It is often mistaken for the giant hornet. It nests in hollow trees, barns and wall voids, and, unusually, it also flies at night and is drawn to porch lights. It strips bark from lilac and birch twigs to build its nest. It is less aggressive than yellowjackets away from the nest.

Solitary Wasps: Scary-Looking but Mostly Harmless

Solitary wasps don’t have a colony to defend. Each female builds her own nest and stocks it with paralyzed prey for her young. They rarely sting unless you grab or step on them, and they are valuable pest controllers.

Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)

The great black wasp is a striking, all-black wasp about 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, with smoky blue-black wings. It is common on flowers such as mountain mint and milkweed in midsummer. Females hunt katydids and grasshoppers, paralyze them and drag them into underground burrows as food for their larvae. Despite its size, it is not aggressive.

Eastern Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus)

The cicada killer is the largest wasp most people in the eastern US will see, up to 2 inches long, with a black-and-yellow abdomen and amber wings. In July and August the females dig burrows in sandy, bare soil, leaving a U-shaped mound of dirt at the entrance, and stock them with cicadas. The males patrol the nesting area and buzz people aggressively, but males can’t sting, and females rarely do.

Mud Daubers (Sceliphron, Trypoxylon and Chalybion spp.)

Mud daubers are long, thread-waisted wasps that build nests of mud cells under eaves, in sheds, garages and attics. Some make lumpy clusters of cells, and others (organ-pipe mud daubers) make long parallel tubes. Each cell is packed with paralyzed spiders, including black widows. They are docile and very rarely sting.

Potter Wasps (Eumeninae)

Potter wasps are small black-and-yellow or black-and-white wasps, many of which build tiny, jug-shaped mud nests on twigs, walls and rocks. Others nest in hollow stems or old beetle holes. They stock their nests with caterpillars, which makes them useful in the vegetable garden. They look like small yellowjackets but are not aggressive.

Sand Wasps (Bembicini)

Sand wasps are fast, stout wasps, often with pale green or yellow banding, that nest in loose sand on beaches, dunes, sandboxes and bare patches of yard. Many species hunt flies, including horse flies, and bring prey to their burrows one at a time. They can nest in large groups, which look alarming but rarely cause stings.

Spider Wasps (Pompilidae)

Spider wasps are usually dark blue-black, sometimes with orange wings or markings, with long, spiny legs. They run across the ground in a jerky, restless way, flicking their wings as they search for spiders to paralyze. They are not aggressive, but many species have a painful sting if handled.

Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis and Hemipepsis spp.)

Tarantula hawks are the giant spider wasps of the Southwest, up to 2 inches long, with metallic blue-black bodies and bright orange or rusty wings. Females hunt tarantulas. The sting is rated among the most painful of any insect, a few minutes of intense pain, but they are docile and rarely sting unless stepped on or grabbed. The adults feed on flower nectar and milkweed. The tarantula hawk is New Mexico’s state insect.

Ichneumon Wasps (Ichneumonidae)

Ichneumon wasps are slender wasps with long antennae. Many females have a long, thread-like ovipositor for laying eggs inside caterpillars, beetle larvae or wood-boring grubs. The giant ichneumons (Megarhyssa) can drill 3 to 4 inches into dead wood. The ovipositor looks like a stinger, but it is used for egg-laying, and most species can’t sting people.

American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator)

The American pelecinid is an unmistakable glossy black wasp: the female’s abdomen is extremely long and thin, 2 inches or more, and she uses it to probe the soil for June beetle grubs to lay eggs in. It is common at woodland edges and in gardens in late summer. Despite its alarming shape, it is harmless and rarely stings.

Giant Woodwasp (Horntail) (Urocerus gigas)

Horntails, or wood wasps, are not true wasps but a primitive group related to sawflies. They are large, cylindrical, often yellow-and-black insects. Females have a stout spike at the tip of the abdomen, used to drill eggs into dead or dying conifers. The giant woodwasp is Eurasian and occasionally turns up in North America in firewood and lumber. The native pigeon horntail (Tremex columba) looks similar and uses hardwoods. Neither can sting.

Invasive Hornets to Report

Northern Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia)

The northern giant hornet, formerly called the Asian giant hornet, is the world’s largest hornet. Queens are up to 2 inches long, with a big orange head and a dark-banded abdomen. It is native to East Asia and attacks honeybee colonies in groups. It was found in Washington State and British Columbia in 2019, and after an intensive eradication program, the USDA declared it eradicated from the US in December 2024. Most “giant hornet” sightings in the East are European hornets or cicada killers.

Yellow-Legged Hornet (Vespa velutina)

The yellow-legged hornet (also called the Asian hornet) is dark, almost black, about an inch long, with one orange abdominal band and bright yellow leg tips. It spread from Asia across Europe after arriving in France around 2004, and it was found near Savannah, Georgia, in 2023, the first detection in the US. It builds huge paper nests high in trees and hunts honeybees. If you think you have seen one, take a photo from a safe distance and report it to your state department of agriculture, the Georgia Department of Agriculture if you’re in Georgia.

Hornets Found Outside North America

These true hornets live in Asia, southern Europe and North Africa. They are included here because they turn up in photos and travel questions, but you won’t find them in a North American yard.

Black Shield Wasp (Vespa bicolor)

A small true hornet from southern China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia to the Himalayas, with a mostly yellow body and dark markings. It is known for feeding on fruit and gathering around markets and food stalls.

Black-Bellied Hornet (Vespa basalis)

A dark-bodied true hornet of the Himalayas, southern China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, with a mostly black abdomen. It is considered one of the most aggressive hornets in Taiwan and nests high in trees.

Black-Tailed Hornet (Vespa ducalis)

A large true hornet of East Asia with a black tip to its abdomen. It hunts mainly other wasps and is less defensive than most large hornets.

Greater Banded Hornet (Vespa tropica)

A large, dark hornet of tropical Asia with a single broad yellow band on the abdomen. It raids paper wasp nests and often nests in the ground or in tree hollows.

Japanese Yellow Hornet (Vespa simillima)

A medium-sized, mostly yellow hornet of Japan and the Russian Far East that often nests in attics and under roof eaves in cities, so it is one of the hornets people in Japan meet most often.

Lesser Banded Hornet (Vespa affinis)

A common hornet of tropical and subtropical Asia, dark with a yellow or orange band near the base of the abdomen. It is one of the most frequent causes of hornet stings in Southeast Asia.

Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis)

A reddish-brown hornet with a yellow band, found in the Middle East, North Africa, southern Europe and parts of Asia. It thrives in hot, dry climates and is a pest of beehives.

Philippine Hornet (Vespa luctuosa)

A dark hornet found only in the Philippines. Its venom is one of the most toxic of any hornet, drop for drop.

Southern Giant Hornet (Vespa soror)

A close relative of the northern giant hornet and nearly as large, found in southern China, Vietnam, Laos and neighboring countries.

What to Do About a Wasp Nest

• Leave solitary wasp nests alone. Mud dauber tubes, potter wasp pots and cicada killer burrows are low risk and the wasps are helping you.
• Social nests away from people (a paper wasp nest on a far fence, a bald-faced hornet nest high in a tree) can usually be left alone: the colony dies in fall and the nest isn’t reused.
• Nests near doors, play areas or inside walls should be treated at night, when the wasps are inside, or by a professional. Never seal a wall-void nest from outside: the wasps will chew into the house.
• Prevent problems by keeping trash cans closed, picking up fallen fruit, covering drinks outdoors and knocking down paper wasp nests in early spring while they are still small.

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Sources: University of Minnesota Extension · Entomological Society of America · USDA APHIS: yellow-legged hornet